November 2012

In This Issue:

Emergency? We Have a Page for That

In an emergency, you or your clients may need the services of Social Security. To assist when severe weather or other emergencies occur, we maintain a special web page to share important information about our services.

Social Security's emergency page keeps the public up to date on Social Security office closures. It also gives information on signing up for direct deposit. With electronic payments, people who have been displaced don't have to worry about where their next payment will be mailed to — it will show up in their bank account on schedule.

The site also provides information on emergency payments and links to the websites of other organizations that provide emergency services such as FEMA, Ready America, Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund, and the U.S. Postal Service.

The Best Time to Contact Social Security During the Holidays

If you have clients who need to conduct business with Social Security during the holiday season, be sure to let them know that our offices will be closed on December 25 and January 1. In addition, anyone calling or visiting a Social Security office between December 26 and New Year's Eve might experience longer waits than usual.

However, our online services are available even on holidays. Anyone can visit www.socialsecurity.gov to complete a number of transactions, such as getting a Social Security Statement, applying for retirement, disability, or spouse’s benefits, checking the status of pending applications, getting instant, personalized estimates of future benefits with the Retirement Estimator, requesting a replacement Medicare card, or applying for Extra Help with Medicare prescription drug plan costs.

Another Way to Stay in the Know

You already get this newsletter to keep you in the know about important Social Security news and reminders. There are two other easy ways to get Social Security news and information in a flash.
One is to "like" us on Facebook. Simply click the Facebook icon on our homepage and then select "like." You also can follow Social Security on Twitter by clicking on the Twitter icon on our homepage.

Whether you prefer posts, tweets, or good old-fashioned newsletter articles like this one, you can find them all at our home page: www.socialsecurity.gov.

Subscribe to Social Security Update today and you'll always be in the know when it comes to Social Security news. All we need is your e-mail address.